Teeth Brushing and Heart Disease

How important is it to brush your teeth? Well, more and more studies are showing that keeping your teeth and your mouth clean can actually be effective at preventing, of all things, heart disease. That’s right. We have found that people who have bacterial infections, periodontal disease, are more likely to have problems associated with heart disease. Now, whether it’s because of the teeth or it’s because of the fact that certain individuals may not take care of their teeth or their overall health, we’re not sure. But there is clearly that association.

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Study Suggests Optimists Live Longer

Optimists live longer.  Results from a government study showing nearly 100,000 women being followed adds to scientific findings saying that optimists live longer.  The report is from the American Psychosomatic Society meeting and the University of Pittsburgh.  Women aged 50 and above were in the study that started in 1994.  Optimists were defined as those who said they expected good things rather than bad things to happen.  Over the course of the study, optimists had a lower death rate in general and had a 30% lower death rate from heart disease.  In contrast, those who were more hostile had a higher death rate and a 23% greater risk of death from a cancer-related condition.  The results also suggested that optimism and hostility levels had a larger impact on black women's health.  The researchers say that finding needs more study due to low numbers of black women in the group

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Study Shows Even Light Smoking Carries Serious Risks

If you're a person who smokes casually, maybe you light up a cigarette a few times a day in social settings, you probably think it's safe, but you may want to look at it again.  That's according to a Norwegian study of 43,000 men and women.  They found that smoking fewer than five cigarettes a day, commonly known as light smoking, triples the risk of dying of heart disease or lung cancer in men.  In women, the increased risk of lung cancer was five times greater.  Researchers looked at a 32 year period.  This is not a small study and it shows the concerns we must look into.  

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Oral Bacteria May Be Linked with Heart Risk

Could mouth bacteria be linked with heart risk?  Studies are finding out this is the case. According to University of Buffalo, research comparing oral bacteria from 386 heart attack patients with oral bacteria from 840 without finds two species of bacteria are more common among heart attack patients.  Overall, heart patients tended to have higher levels of bacteria in their mouths, but of two types; Tannerella forsynthesis and Prevotella intermedia.  They were statistically linked to heart attack.  Researchers say more study is needed to determine if these bacteria actually contribute to the heart risk, but clearly, the studies are pointing in that direction and it's something we should look at and understand. 

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Cold Weather Exercise Cautions

It’s tough to exercise in the cold weather, and certainly one of the most frustrating things is that you can pull muscles. You can also put extra pressure on the chest. When you’re in the cold, the blood vessels that go to the heart actually can clamp down, and when they clamp down they can have decreased oxygen supply to the heart. With that decrease of oxygen can come chest tightness and situations resolving and leading into a heart attack. The other problem of course is if you don’t warm up properly, and you don’t stretch out, you can also pull hamstrings and other muscles and tendons.

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Women Need to Take Heart Disease Seriously

You know, it’s about time that women start to be treated seriously for heart disease. Heart disease is a major health problem in both men and women. What many women aren’t aware of is that heart disease is the leading killer in women, however, many physicians don’t take it as seriously as they should. They look at the problem in women and they more or less tend to think there might be some psychological issue or complaining. We cannot afford to make that mistake, and doctors and women need to take heart disease more seriously.

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The Mediterranean Diet Has Medical Benefits

There has been a great deal of news lately surrounding the Mediterranean diet.  We know this diet is definitely a big help when it comes to fighting heart disease, and there are numerous reports that it can increase life expectancy.  Recently, there have been several reports looking at whether it helps prevent Alzheimer's disease.  The debate goes back and forth, and certainly there has been some groundbreaking work by Columbia University looking into the matter, but I think it's time to make a commonsense point.   There is great reason to continue studies here, but we also know the Mediterranean diet is just good for you.  

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Study of Cholesterol and Memory

Yet another study looking at the importance of monitoring cholesterol and keeping it at the proper levels.  Cholesterol is important to monitor and to look at and evaluate. According to a report from the journal of the American Heart Association, people who have lower levels of HDL, the good cholesterol, have a higher risk for memory problems than those with higher levels of HDL.  The information was based on a study of 3,700 adults.  The scientists tested the participants 15 to 17 years ago and then a second time between 2002 and 2004.  They found that those whose HDL levels went down between the two tests had a 61% higher risk for memory problems than those with high HDL levels.  This is not an all or nothing study, but it shows that there's a relationship.  We're learning more and more about the link between high cholesterol, heart disease and vascular problems, and dementia.  Clearly, it's something that we cannot ignore.  We have to look at it, understand it, and learn more as time goes on.   

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Childhood Obesity and Diabetes Rates

Diabetes is becoming a huge health issue in this country and the biggest reason is because of the problem of childhood obesity. Young children are more overweight, and as a result, diabetes is going to occur more commonly in them, and the problems associated with diabetes, at younger ages, and that is a key concern. One of the big issues we have is that people will have heart disease, obesity, and other related problems, including kidney problems, at earlier ages. It’s critical that we look into it and make changes.

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Cholesterol Measurement and Heart Disease

There is no doubt that heart disease is a known killer and we have been aware that controlling cholesterol is a major way to reduce the chances of problems, but cholesterol is not the only way we measure these things.  At the very minimum, doctors order a lipid panel which includes studies like LDL, or bad cholesterol, triglyceride, and HDL, or good cholesterol.  If necessary, we can break it down more.  All of this is because as we have studied the relationship between cholesterol and heart disease, we have found there is more to watch than a simple test.  You may or may not need many of these specific tests based on your own past medical history and family history, but it can make a difference.  It's very important that you understand that cholesterol measurement, and the various fractionated areas of cholesterol, are important to look into because they can help provide a window into your overall health. 

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Fast-Food Restaurants Contribute to America’s Weight Problem

Fast-food restaurant.  For most Americans, you can't live without them, but can you live with them?  They dot the landscape of our country, city after city, but with a nation on the run, with countless single parents, or couples trying to split time between work and the demands of a heavy family schedule, those fast-food restaurants can offer a quick and often cheap, filling meal.  Fast-food restaurants are not entirely to blame for our nation’s growing weight problem.  Many offer healthy options, but studies show that most of us turn them down because of other reasons.  As a result, we are facing obesity as an issue.  The combination of lack of exercise and high fat foods is causing us to be obese.  The long-term problems of obesity are great.  They include heart disease and diabetes.  The bottom line here is we have to do whatever we can to control obesity.

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Stress Affects Your Health

You can’t underestimate the role of stress. Stress can lead to high blood pressure. It can actually lead to severe heart problems and problems down the road. It can affect your health. If you’re dealing with stress, take the opportunity to try to find ways to reduce the pressure. To try to kind of cut back on it. Stress is something, a situation, where when you feel the tension, it can affect hormones in the body and cause what we call a catecholamine surge. That is not good if it’s on a consistent basis.

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The Health Benefits of Green Tea

Green tea has been used for centuries as a cure for all types of ills.  One of the biggest claims by those who endorse green tea is that it helps fight cancer, but studies haven't supported those claims over the years.  What the studies do support is the fact that drinking green tea actually helps reduce the chances of developing a wide variety of problems including heart disease.  Tea, in various forms, can help people relax and in many cultures, it's associated with rest time.  The average American drinks 155 cups of tea each year.  The good news is that tea is relatively safe, however, be concerned about products that are sold in tea extract pill forms.  Again, you can definitely have a cup a tea if everything else is fine and just not worry about it.  

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Pomegranate Is the Fruit du Jour

The pomegranate was one of the earliest cultivated fruits.  Historical evidence says it was used between 4,000 and 3,000 B.C.  In the past five years, the juice it produces has become very popular.  People think it might fight cancer and heart disease.  Go to a cocktail party and you will hear people having pomegranate martinis.  We bring up pomegranate because it's the fruit du jour.  As is the case with many of these remedies, the truth lies in that it doesn't do everything, but it may potentially help.  Of course, back off on the martinis.

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Taking Control of Diabetes

As more people are diagnosed with diabetes, there is a major issue in medicine…trying to motivate people to take ownership of their condition and aggressively attack it to prevent long-term problems like kidney and heart disease.  There are several key things that you can do to help when you are dealing with diabetes.  The first thing is that diabetes is not a cause of adult blindness, kidney failure, and amputation.  That's right.  It's poorly controlled diabetes that's the problem.  If you keep it in check, there is reason for hope.  Also, make a partnership with your doctor.  You need someone to talk to who can understand your condition.  If he or she does not help, find someone who can.  Another key point; make certain you see your eye doctor each year, have a foot exam annually, and talk with your doctor about urine screening and a test called the hemoglobin A1C, which can help monitor how you're doing. 

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Teeth Brushing and Heart Disease

How important is it to brush your teeth? Well, more and more studies are showing that keeping your teeth and your mouth clean can actually be effective at preventing, of all things, heart disease. That’s right, researchers have found that people who have bacterial infections, periodontal disease, are more likely to have problems associated with heart disease. Now, whether it’s because of the teeth or it’s because of the fact that certain individuals may not take care of their teeth or their overall health, researchers are not sure. But there is clearly that association.

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Coffee and Exercise

It is a daily ritual for many people. Wake up early. Grab a cup of coffee. And run on the treadmill, or get some sort of workout. But now, researchers suggest the amount of caffeine in just two cups of coffee can cut down the body’s ability to increase blood flow to the heart during exercise. Now this means that vital blood flow to the heart can be cut back when the body needs it most. The report is in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Caffeine did not affect heart blood flow when the participants were inactive. Caffeine may block certain receptors in the walls of blood vessels interfering with the normal signaling processes that cause blood vessels to dilate in response to exercise. Now, some people regard caffeine as a stimulant. The studies suggest it may not increase athletic performance. It also raises serious questions about people with heart problems drinking coffee before exercise.

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Recognizing an Irregular Heartbeat

Irregular heartbeats are a major health problem, and yet, they are often missed by the doctor and patients. They don’t realize a thumping in the chest or a strange sensation could be an irregular heartbeat that needs treatment. Irregular heartbeats respond to a wide variety of medications. In addition, they can also sometimes be treated with special procedures designed to attack them. The important thing is you recognize what the irregular heartbeat is and you take that medication or that treatment to try to reduce it. That’s the key.

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Optimism Linked to Health Benefits

Previously published reports suggest that positive psychological factors such as optimism are associated with health benefits such as low risk of heart disease and cardiovascular-related death.  Authors of this study analyzed data from the Health and Retirement Study.  They did it in over 6,000 adults, all older than 50, and they compared the response.  They found that optimistic folks simply have less stress which is linked to less cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke.    

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Which Is Better, Running or Walking?

The debate is on.  What is better, running or walking?  Well, when it comes to protection against heart disease, several recent studies have found that walking for extended periods of time and with regularity can help.  Twenty to thirty minutes, three times a week can help prevent the long-term damage.  Running can have a similar effect, but for many, it's difficult to sustain a regular running program.  The major advantage of running is that you can tone rapidly while burning calories.  So, which is better?  It really comes down to what you will stick with.  Consistency is the key.  

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